Graph via RVIA
The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) has released wholesale shipment numbers — the number of RVs ordered to dealer lots — through the end of June, and the slide that began last year continues to grow.
Total RV shipments ended the month with 36,524 wholesale shipments, a decrease of 10.3% over last June. Through the first half of 2019, 216,581 units have been delivered, down 20.3% from the same point last year.
Industry insiders point to increased prices and economic uncertainty over government tariffs on products like steel and lauan plywood as potential factors, as well as a cyclical consumer pattern.
2018 was the second-best year on record for the RV industry (missing 2017’s half-million units by 4%), which has been booming over the last 5 or so years, as the economy began recovering from the 2008 crash. In 2009, only about 165,000 RVs were shipped, about 1/3 of last year’s numbers.
